Coffee......

I have a few hobbies, and one is coffee... How can it be a hobby? Well, you spend lots of money on stuff the more you get into it as upgraditis takes hold.

I'm a member and forum moderator on Coffee Forums UK, and have several ways of making a brew..

Main machine is a La Pavoni Europicolla, and a Mazzer Major coffee grinder set up for single dosing. You know it's serious when you have commercial equipment in your kitchen (and a very understanding partner...)

..from which you can do this..

(which tastes better than most cafés)

..another attempt at latté art..

Then there are the filter options such as a V60 which sits on the cup and has a paper filter inside..

..as well as the obligatory pouring kettle to go with it..

And now onto a Vacuum Pot, or Syphon as it's sometimes known..

This is my latest acquisition and produces lovely crystal clear coffee. Apparently they are a big hit in Japan.

On the plus side, and to tie into this forum, I can use the coffee grounds as a compost. In fact, I'm just wondering if spent coffee pucks can be used in small plant pots to grow seeds in? I know used tea-bags make great mini grow-bags

Brilliant thing about the Syphon is it has it's own gas powered burner so it could be used to make a brew on the allotment (if I had a shed )

I won't go into all the different types of coffee (light and dark roasts etc.) except to say the stuff you buy in a supermarket that is ready ground is stale. Ground coffee only lasts 18 minutes for espresso before it goes off.Nothing like the fresh waft of ground coffee in the morning

« Last Edit: April 02, 2017, 00:20 by Rhys »

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"There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little." - Billy Connolly

Im very impressed , i can never get a good coffee at home , mainly useing instant and one of those machines we all bouht prommising a god cup, i bouht a converter so i can use grounds , i bouht my son a grinder maybe i should buy myself one .have you any hints you can part with , i like mine strong sweetish not a lot of milk and that lovley coffee smell .chrissie b

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Woman cannot live by bread alone , she must have cake , biscuits cheese and the occasional glass of wine .🍷

Im very impressed , i can never get a good coffee at home , mainly useing instant and one of those machines we all bouht prommising a god cup, i bouht a converter so i can use grounds , i bouht my son a grinder maybe i should buy myself one .have you any hints you can part with , i like mine strong sweetish not a lot of milk and that lovley coffee smell .chrissie b

Grinder is more important than the machine, and use Volvic or Tesco Ashbeck water. A good hand-grinder is better than a cheap electric grinder (has to be burrs, not cheapo bladed herb choppers..)

Also you need fresh coffee. Find a local roaster you can visit, or posted from somewhere like Casa Espresso, Foundry Coffee Roaster, Coffee Compass to name but a few are very good.

What equipment do you have? If you are making espresso, do you weigh input and output? A cheap pair of scales from ebay (about a fiver) are what you need to weigh your beans out.

I dont have a coffee bean shop in my town but theres a town not to far has that kind of shop, my machine was designed for pads and i got an attachment so i can use grounds as the pads are getting hard to get , i will try the bottled water though as our tap water isnt the best .thank you gor the information great help.chrissie b

I dont have a coffee bean shop in my town but theres a town not to far has that kind of shop, my machine was designed for pads and i got an attachment so i can use grounds as the pads are getting hard to get , i will try the bottled water though as our tap water isnt the best .thank you gor the information great help.chrissie b

If it's an attachment it will probably be a pressurised basket (hold it up to the light and there's only one hole) which is meant for pre-ground supermarket coffee. Fresh coffee will choke it and possibly damage your machine.

The cheapest and most popular machine that takes standard unpressureised baskets and works like a professional machine, is the Gaggia Classic (used, pre-Philips ones are the best, not the modern new ones).

Sounds like an interesting hobby and a way to opening your own coffee shop.

We will just stick with our instant coffee with tinned milk, cafetière with waitrose coffee beans and the trusty Dolce Gusto for a quick espresso, lungo and cappuccino that we all love to use.

More important, what do the slugs and snails make of the coffee grounds for this machine

Nowt wrong with a Dolce Gusto, I was given one by a friend (Nestle employees got given them one year and they didn't use it). You can bodge two capsules together and add your own coffee (or tea bag) and away you go.

My favourite brew method is the Syphon at the minute. At least with brewing compared to espresso, the equipment is relatively cheap (AeroPress and V60).

Here's a quick vid of a syphon drawing down after the heat was removed..

the water boils in the bottom bit and is forced in to the top bit via pressure. Coffee is added to the top part and left to brew for a mionute. When the heat is removed, the vacuum in the bottom bit sucks the water back down through a filter, leaving a very clean coffee in the bottom.

I did not put two capsules together but bought a few reusable capsules on amazon for a few quid.Using the Lidl Bellarom Caffe Espresso and its making a great espresso or double, about 9g.They are so easy to clean and good thing is you get the coffee grounds to put on garden.

Was thinking of doing the same for a cappuccino (espresso in it as above), but for the milk, tried the supermarket milk powder and its ok, but wondered if there is another milk to use as the dolce capsule does make a nice one.Not sure on using coffeemate.

Mrs HGB and I got a Villaware espresso machine for our Ruby Wedding and loved it. Got years of fairly heavy use out of it and when it eventually gave up the ghost I found the manufacturer was no longer around and the range was discontinued donkeys years ago. Bottomerr, if I could source another one I would buy another one in a heartbeat and relegate the replacement I ended up with to reserve status!

Then and now though, still Illy (which brand today I learned originated in Trieste) when flush (or flash) and then use the empty Illy tins to keep my Morrisons own brand French ground nice and fresh (and look classy too)

Incidentally Rhys, couldn't see your pictures in the original post just a bunch of Photobucket third party hosting warnings.

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The Dales - probably fingerprint marks where God's hand touched the world

Incidentally Rhys, couldn't see your pictures in the original post just a bunch of Photobucket third party hosting warnings.

Yeah, Photoblocket now wants $399 a year just to link pics to other sites such as this..

Anyway, Flickr isn't as user friendly, but is still free and doesn't crash my computer with adverts..

Here's my coffee corner setup which cost me the grand total of £100.. Bought the La Pavoni coffee machine for £100 (came with a little grinder which is useless) off gumtree. The big commercial grinder (Mazzer Major) was bought for £80 and came as a pair, the smaller one of which (Mazzer Super Jolly) I sold for £100 (both off Gumtree) and then spent £20 odd on a tamper and tamping mat. It's all very hands-on, but the results are well worth the faff. better than a lot of specialist coffee shops in fact!

I am a bit of an obsessive when it comes to coffee tbh, and I have several more coffee making things (V60, AeroPress, French Press to name but a few) and a cupboard full of coffee beans, as well as several in the freezer..